Abstract: An outline compensation apparatus for a television receiver includes a circuit for detecting outlines of regions of a picture, expressed in a video signal, and a velocity modulation circuit for effecting outline enhancement in response to an output signal produced from the outline detection circuit. The amplitude of that output signal is controlled in accordance with both a contrast adjustment signal and a sharpness adjustment signal that are used to process the video signal in order to modify the degrees of contrast and sharpness of definition of the picture, respectively. The operation of the outline compensation apparatus is thereby made to effectively complement any increase or decrease of display contrast and sharpness that results from the application of the contrast adjustment signal and sharpness adjustment signal, enabling the user to more easily adjust the television receiver to obtain a clear and natural-looking displayed picture.